Both business, labor claim recess victories By Michael O'Brien Posted: 04/18/09 06:59 PM [ET] After two weeks of wrangling over the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) during the congressional recess, both business and labor groups are claiming victory before the return of Congress this week.

Organized labor groups have cited what they claim was the largest grass-roots mobilization since the election as a sign of their success over the congressional break, while business groups point to signs that the legislation will fall short of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) declared Sen. Blanche Lincolns (D-Ark.) decision to oppose EFA (sometimes known as card check) a victory in an internal memo obtained by The Hill.

The Congressional recess has only served to add momentum to efforts to stop the ill-named Employee Free Choice Act, the memo reads, pointing also to the skepticism aired by centrist Democrats during the recess that the bill isnt viable in its current form.

I don't really know how they're able to claim such a thing, the Service Employees International Unions (SEIU) Mark McCullough said. I think they're being hopeful in the statements, and they're not really basing it on reality.

McCullough pointed to the millions being spent on advertising in favor of EFCA the past two weeks and the hundreds of town hall meetings held in targeted congressional districts.

Labors efforts to maintain the push for the legislation despite having lost several key votes in recent weeks was also highlighted in an AFL-CIO memo released Friday.

All across the country Americas workers held over 400 events in support of [EFCA] including forums, community town halls, roundtables, letter delivery events, and marches, the union said in its memo, pointing also to the $1 million ad campaign spent on two ads targeting the legislations opponents.

Business and labor did manage, though, to find common ground in their post-recess assessments: both sides clearly believe that the fight over card check is far from dead in this Congress.

While we should be pleased with our efforts, hard work remains to ensure EFCA or some variation of it does not get passed in this Congress or in any future sessions, WFIs memo read. Simply stated, there can be no real discussion until EFCA is taken off the table.

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